SAN JOSE — Unlikely but not impossible.
After a 0-4 start to the season, no one could have foreseen a Central Coast Section championship for the Menlo-Atherton football team. But that’s exactly what took place Saturday as the Bears defeated San Mateo 31-21 for the CCS Division III title at MacDonald High.
It was the fifth CCS title in program history.
M-A was not only 0-4 to start the season, but had been outscored 146-23 in those four losses. Then the Bears got their first win, starting a run of seven wins in the next nine games. And that first win came against none other than San Mateo, 42-28, the same team they met up with in the game with the CCS title at stake.
“We knew we were capable of winning but we also knew it would be physical,” Menlo-Atherton coach Chris Saunders said. “San Mateo is a really good team.”
Quarterback Teddy Dacey led the way Saturday, throwing three touchdown passes and running for another.
The Bears got off to a flying start with Dacey playing an outsized role. They took the opening kickoff and went 80 yards in 10 plays with Dacey scoring on an 8-yard run. He completed three passes on the drive for 40 yards and ran three times for 32 yards.
No. 8 seed San Mateo (9-4), in an underdog role that has been a constant throughout the playoffs, went 65 yards on eight running plays but missed a 26-yard field goal.
M-A proceeded to embark on another 80-yard drive, this time with Dacey passing to Monty Turner for a 21-yard touchdown.
A fumble recovery on the ensuing kickoff got the ball back for the Bears and they drove for a 28-yard Anthony Perez field goal and a 17-0 lead.
San Mateo got its lethal ground game clicking on its next possession, going 60 yards on seven runs with QB Lukas Fitzgerald scoring on an 8-yard run.
San Mateo got the ball to start the second half but was forced to punt after Kolei Maile’s tackle for loss on third down. And M-A put together another scoring drive with Dacey connecting with Zachary Sokol on a 44-yard touchdown pass.
That made it 24-7 and San Mateo’s hopes took a nose dive when Fitzgerald, who had over 1,500 yards rushing on the season, was helped off the field with a knee injury.
Dacey’s 7-yard scoring pass to Matthew Kwon made it 31-7.
But San Mateo, even without its star quarterback, showed fight, scoring two touchdowns in the final minutes, on a 1-yard run by Jovani Hernandez Cruz that was set up by TJ Johnson’s 54-yard dash, and a 33-yard run by Tyce Copus, who moved over from slotback to take over at quarterback following Fitzgerald’s injury.
“Tyce is such a stud, nothing rattles him,” San Mateo coach Jeff Scheller said. “But with a third string quarterback down 24 points there’s not a lot in the triple option you can do.
“Right now it’s pretty devastating but beating Burlingame three years in a row and advancing to the finals makes it a pretty good year.”
Now Menlo-Atherton (7-6) is looking forward to a NorCal playoff game, however unlikely it might’ve seemed after the first four weeks of the season.
“We found an identity on offense with the run game and we started tackling a lot better,” Saunders said. “Real basic fundamentals. The team really came together and believed in each other.”
